By Christie DeCarolis of Rutgers University and Hypothesis
Description #
These are general annotation instructions for students to use Hypothesis social annotation throughout the term. The instructions include a brief description of assessment (pass/fail) as well as examples of what kinds of annotations make good contributions. There are sample annotations provided for each of these bullets that are appropriate for a Gender Studies course.
Purpose #
Annotating the readings for each module allows us to think about the readings critically as a class, even though we don’t physically meet in the same space. As you annotate, you can share your thoughts about a reading, connect it to your own life or relate it back to course materials we’ve already covered. You can ask a question if you don’t understand something or answer a question, I’ve asked in the Module Study Questions.
Format #
You’ll participate in the annotations using the Assignments tool in Canvas, and a tool called Hypothesis that’s built in. Each reading will have its own separate assignment. Any readings that don’t require annotations will be linked from the Module Overview page — you should still complete these to be successful in your assignments.
Assessment #
Annotation assignments are pass/fail, so as long as you complete the assignment with good effort, you’ll receive credit (five points). To gain credit for your annotations, each one should do one of the following:
- Answer a question: Reply if a classmate (or I) has asked a question as an annotation, or answer an Essential Question for that module.
- Example: John, I think the author means that the women were involved with the development of the actual machine, but they weren’t included in news reports.
- Pose a question about the material: Questions can be rhetorical, or you can ask something you’d hope to have answered because you don’t understand.
- Examples:
- What does the author mean when they refer to an algorithm as a “black box?”
- I wonder how much my own conceptions about my gender have impacted my confidence in using technology?
- Examples:
- Connect the material to other topics or points we have discussed in the course.
- Example: This is a pretty clear example of gender performativity, which we talked about when we watched the video with Judith Butler.
- Connect the material to something in your own life, including other courses.
- Example: The design justice principles remind me of a discussion we had in my philosophy class around the ethics of companies developing algorithmic technologies.
